Emrey made three birdies and just two bogeys in her round. The 71 is the lowest round of her career and her first under-par round as a Demon Deacon. She will start the second round in a tie for fifth, just four shots off the lead.

As a team, the Deacons opened with a solid round of 12-over 300 and are in a tie for seventh with NC State and host UNC Wilmington.

Senior Olafia Kristinsdottir started and ended her round with a bogey but in between, she made four birdies and would finish with a round of 2-over 74. The Iceland native birdied three of the four par-5s on the 6,138-yard Landfall Country Club layout. Kristinsdottir is tied for 23rd heading into Saturday.

Sophomore Emily Wright and freshman Mariana Sims posted rounds of 77 and 78, respectively. Wright was 5-over par through her first nine holes but played the final nine in even-par with a pair of birdies.

Senior Greta Lange, who is playing as an individual this week and making her season debut, shot an opening round 80.

Oklahoma State put together five sold rounds and leads the team race by one-shot over Duke. The Cowgirls shot a 4-over 292 while Duke posted a 293 and Purdue and Texas Tech each carded 294.

Individually, Kimberly Kaufman of Texas Tech shot a bogey-free round of 5-under 67 and has a two-shot lead after the first day.

The second round is set to begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning off of both tees. The Demon Deacons are in the first wave off the front nine with NC State and UNC Wilmington. Golfstat.com will have live scoring of the final two rounds.